Floor protection for railway cars



June 8, 1943. G. G. GILPIN 2,321,547

FLOOR PROTECTION FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed July 3, 1941 ZSheets-Sheet 1 9 m I 5 52 50 53 20 5a 5/ /z 350 2 3 v I \3 [aw/WW: 640% 6. 6150172 June 8, 1943. GQG. GILPIN FLOOR PROTECTION FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed July 3, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 9 Z Vii L113 W w i 2 o 2 6 3/ Z N. M M 00 1 I l l l l i llll Patented June 8, 1943 E UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLOOR PROTECTION FOR RAILWAY CARS Garth G. Gilpin, Riverside, Ill.

Application July 3,, 1941, Serial No. 401L389 7 Claims.

The invention relates to railway freight cars of the house or roofed type and has for its object to provide means for protecting the wooden floors now in general use in such type of equipment, which means will not interfere with the securing of blocking to the wooden flooring, to which'the lading is secured.

Another object is to protect the wooden flooring with a metallic sheathing which is perforated so that the car lading may be secured to the flooring through the apertures, which apertures are preferably formed to provide antiskidding means to prevent the trainmen from slipping.

The floors of railway cars are subjected to a great deal of abuse by nails and spikes being driven into them when attaching blocking to them, and also by trucking the ladinginto the car and by dragging pieces of lading from one part of the car to another.

Another object is to provide a metallic floor protecting sheet which can be conveniently installed in existing house cars without the necessity of making major repairs.

A further object is to provide means for preventing grain and other bulk commodities being entrapped in the corners of the car, particularly the corners formed by the intersection of the floor and the outer sheathing of the side walls.

Another object is to strengthen the wooden flooring as a load carrying member due to a better distribution of the load provided by the metallic sheet. In cars having double ply flooring, one of the plies may be made of a poorer grade of lumber due to the strength added to the floor structure by the metallic covering.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following detailed description by referring to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a transverse section through the floor structure of a railway car embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan section on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1 showing a modified form of my invention.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing a modified form of my invention.

Figs. 6 and 7 are views showing the method of assembling the structure.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged View showing a modified securing means.

A railway car, such as the house car shown in the drawings, is commonly supported by a center sill 2; side sills 3 and cross members extending therebetween, such as the bolsters 4 (as shown) and cross bearers and cross ties. Reinforcing members 5 are commonly employed at the connection of the cross members to the side sills 3. Figs. 1-5, vertical posts 8, preferably Z-bars, are secured in an upstanding position to the side sills 3. Outside sheathing 9, preferably metallic, is secured to the outer faces of posts 8 and side sills 3 and lining IE) is secured to the inner faces of the posts 3. The wooden flooring I2, which may be single ply or double ply, rests upon and is supported by the sills.

Cars of the type shown usually have the lining Ill spaced above the floor 2 a relatively small distance, such as one or two inches. This is desirable, particularly in cars hauling grain and other bulk materials which require cleanliness, for cleaning the car'and for permitting the escape of any lading which gets over the top edge of or through the lining. It is also common to provide a separate wooden grain strip having a sloping surface below the space between the sheathing 9 and lining Ill to facilitate the removal of objects from said space to the lading compartment.

The metallic floor covering sheet 29, shown' in the preferred form in Figs. 1 and 2, consists of a pair of sections 2!, each of which extends from the center line H! to a side wall of the car. There are preferably a plurality of sections 2| extending longitudinally of the car. Each section 2| has formed on the edge thereof adjacent aside sill 3 an upstanding fiange 23 which is relatively high compared with the space between the lining l0 and flooring l2. Each flange 23 preferably has a portion 24 which slopes upwardly and outwardly to direct particles under the lining ill and into the lading compartment.

I prefer to install the floor sheet 2%? in the following manner. I place a section 2! on the car floor between the opposite linings Hi and with the flange 23 adjacent one lining. Then I lift the edge 28 (which is adjacent the center of the car) a sufl'lcient distance to permit the flange 23 to be inserted through the space between the lower edge of the lining iii and flooring l2. The section 2| is then in position to be moved toward the side sheathing ii of' the car (see Fig. 6) until the flange 23 engages the upstanding leg'of the side sill 3 which at that place, aselearly shown in Fig. 4', is acontinuation In the double sheathed carshown in of and in efiect a part of the sheathing 9; the section 2| is then lowered (see Fig. '7) so as to rest upon the flooring l2 in the position shown in Fig. 1. The sheet 20 is preferably held in position by the rivets 29 through the side sill 3 and bolts 30, 33 through the center sill 2 and side sill 3, respectively. Additional bolts 3| may be provided through the stringers 32 to rigidly tie the sheet 20 to the underframe of the.car for the purpose of stiffening the car against weaving.

The sheet 20 is preferably provided with apertures 35 so that nails or other securing means may be inserted therethrough to secure the lading to the wooden flooring l2. Depending flanges 36 are preferably provided on the edges of each section which abuts an edge of an adjacent section and may be embedded in slots cut in the wooden flooring, It is important that the metallic sheet 20 has a substantially flat upper sur face for the lading to rest upon. Several modifications are shown, such as the fiat head bolts in a depression in the sheet (39) and the countersunk bolts (40).

In the modification shown in Fig. 3, the sheet 20 is made in three sections 50 extending across the car. The center section 5| may be applied in the conventional manner, whereas each of the side sections 52 should be applied in the manner disclosed in Figures 6 and 7; that is, by elevating the edges 53 so that the flanges 54 may be inserted through the space between the lining Ill and flooring l2. It is to be understood that more than three sections could be used extending across the car without departing from the, spirit of my invention.

Fig. 5 shows a modification in which the flanges E of the metallic sheet 20 covers the wooden grain strip 6|. Such wooden grain strips are common on cars of this general type. The attaching bolt 62 in Fig. is necessarily spaced a considerable distance from the side wall on account of the wooden grain strip 6|. The clip 54 may be riveted to the sill 3 and the bolt 62 inserted through the clip 64.

The rivet 29 shown in Fig. 4 is a conventional buttonhead rivet which may be driven by a pneumatic hammer operated from outside the car and supported at the opposite end by a bucking bar operated from inside the car. The bucking bar would have a specially formed handle having a downwardly offset part to clear the lower edge of the lining l0. Special bucking bars are used considerably in car construction work for driving otherwise inaccessible rivets.

Fig. 8 shows a modified type of rivet which may be used in place of the rivet 29. The rivet I5 is of a type which may be driven by a special tool operated exclusively from outside the car, which type is completely described in Huck Reissue Patent No. Re. 21,058, April 25, 1939.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of therclaims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

This is a continuation in part of my pending application filed August 25, 1939, Serial No. 291,818.

I claim:

1. A metallic covering sheet for railway house car fioor, said car having spaced side walls each consisting of spaced apart outer sheathing element, and inner lining elements, each sheet comprising a pair of sections, each section adapted to extend from the approximate center of the car to said outer sheathing element and to rest upon the car floor, an upstanding flange formed on the edge of each section adjacent to and abutting said outer sheathing element, and means adapted to secure said sections to the car structure.

2. In a railway car having spaced apart walls, each comprising sheathing element and lining element in spaced apart relation, and flooring extending substantially between said walls in spaced relation below the lower edges of said lining element, sheet means adapted to be installed in said cars so as to be supported by said flooring and to extend substantially continuously between said walls, the opposite marginal portions of said sheet means formed with upstanding flanges each adapted to extend between the sheathing element and lining element and to terminate above the lower edge of the lining element of one of said walls and abut said sheathing element, means to secure said flanges to said sheathing element, and means adapted to secure said sheet means to said flooring, said sheet means comprised of a plurality of independent sections each including not more than one of said flanges.

3. In a railway car having spaced apart walls, each comprising sheathing element and lining element in spaced apart relation, and flooring extending substantially between said walls in spaced relation below the lower edges of said lining element, sheet means adapted to be installed in said car so as to be supported by said flooring and to extend substantially continuously between said walls, the opposite marginal portions of said sheet means formed with upstanding flanges each adapted to extend between the sheathing element and lining element and to terminate above the lower edge of the lining element of one of said walls in contact with said sheathing element, and means adapted to secure said sheet means to said sheathing element and flooring, said sheet means comprised of a plurality of independent sections each including not more than one of said flanges,

4. In a railway car having spaced apart walls, each comprising sheathing element and lining element in spaced apart relation, and wooden flooring extending substantially between said walls in spaced relation below the lower edges of said lining element, sheet means adapted to be installed in said car so as to be supported byv said flooring and to extend substantially continuously between said walls, the opposite marginal portions of said sheet means formed with upstanding flanges each adapted to extend between the sheathing element and lining element and to terminate above the lower edge of the lining element of one of said walls in contact with said sheathing element, apertures in said sheet means to permit nailing to said wooden flooring and means adapted to secure said sheet means to said sheathing element, said sheet means comprised of a plurality of independent sections each including not more than one of said flanges.

5. In a railway car having spaced apart walls, each comprising sheathing element and lining element in spaced apart relation, and flooring extending substantially between said walls in spaced relation below the lower edges of said lining, sheet means adapted to be installed in said car so as to be supported by said flooring and to extend substantially continuously between said walls, the opposite marginal portions of said sheet -means formed with upstanding flanges each adapted to extend between [the sheathing element and lining element and to terminate above the lower edge of the lining element of one of said walls and abut said sheathing element, means to secure said flanges to said sheathing element, and means adapted to secure said sheet means to the car structure, said sheet means comprised entirely of a pair of independent sections each including only one of said flanges.

6. In a railway car having spaced apart walls, each comprising sheathing element and lining element in spaced apart relation, and flooring to secure said sheet means to the car structure, said sheet means comprised of a plurality of independent sections each including not more than one of said flanges.

'7. In a railway car having spaced apart walls, each comprising sheathing element and lining element in spaced apart relation, and flooring extending substantially between said walls in spaced relation below the lower edges of said lining, sheet means adapted to be installed in said car so as to be supported by said flooring and to extend substantially continuously between said Walls, the opposite marginal portions of said sheet means formed with upstanding flanges each adapted to extend between the sheathing element and lining element and to terminate above the lower edge of the lining element of one of said walls in contact with said sheathing element, means adapted to secure said flanges 

